Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 114, Shloka 14
अयोध्याप्रवेशः
Bharata Enters Ayodhya and Perceives the City’s Desolation
क्षीणपानोत्तमैर्भग्नैः शरावैरभिसंवृताम्।
हतशौण्डामिव ध्वस्तांं पानभूमिमसंस्कृताम्।।2.114.14।।
kṣīṇa-pānottamaiḥ bhagnaiḥ śarāvair abhisaṃvṛtām | hata-śauṇḍām iva dhvastāṃ pāna-bhūmim asaṃskṛtām ||
Ayodhyā semblait un lieu de boisson souillé après les réjouissances : le vin excellent épuisé, des cruches brisées éparses, et les buveurs tapageurs comme terrassés, laissant l’endroit en dévastation.
(Ayodhya looked) like an uncleansed drinking place with broken pitchers emptied of excellent wine scattered around and with drunkards lying dead in the open.
FAQs
The simile contrasts order and purity with collapse and neglect: when dharma is disturbed, the civic space feels ‘uncleansed,’ reflecting inner and outer disarray.
The narrator intensifies the portrayal of Ayodhyā’s degradation and despondency through a stark, earthy comparison.
The implied virtue is self-restraint and social order; their absence is pictured as the aftermath of uncontrolled indulgence.